Communication systems and methods

ABSTRACT

A communication system includes a receiver for receiving an audio signal. The audio signal includes an embedded telephone number, and the system includes an output device for outputting the embedded telephone number. In a first embodiment, the output device is a short-range wireless transceiver, such as Bluetooth transceiver. In this embodiment, the receiver is a digital television receiver and the output device is a separate unit connected to the SCART socket of the receiver.

This invention relates to communication systems and methods. Inparticular it relates to the transmission and receipt of an audiosignal. This audio signal may be part of a larger broadcast signal thatincludes a video signal such as a television broadcast, or may be asimple audio signal such as a radio broadcast.

It is commonplace during the broadcast of television or radio programmesto mention associated telephone numbers. Traditionally this served thepurpose of allowing the viewer or listener to access or give furtherinformation about the content being received. For example, during thebroadcast of police information style programmes, a presenter would giveout a telephone number for viewers to call if they had relevantinformation. Usually this would be simultaneously shown on the screen asan onscreen graphic.

In more recent times telephone numbers have been used for the purpose ofvoting in entertainment and more serious programmes. For example, anumber of television programmes have been broadcast that allow thewinner or successful contestant to be chosen by the viewing public, onthe basis of telephone votes. Examples of such programmes include BigBrother and Popstars. At the critical time in the broadcast of theprogramme, the presenter will give a list of numbers each correspondingto an individual contestant, and the user can vote by dialling thecorrect number. In addition to standard telephone numbers, it is nowcommon to also use shortened numbers that can be accessed by sending atext message from a mobile phone to the appropriate number. Throughoutthis application the term telephone number is used to designate bothstandard dialled numbers and the shortened numbers accessed by texting.

However all of the known systems have the weakness that the viewer orlistener must correctly note down the telephone number used in theprogramme. This is particularly acute during radio programmes, whichrely on the listener accurately hearing the entire number without anyvisual confirmation. This can lead to the viewer or listener beingunable to obtain the telephone number, or worse, noting down the wrongnumber. This later problem can lead to nuisance calls to completelyrandom telephone numbers or if the numbers are used for voting, a viewermay end up unintentionally voting for the wrong contestant.

It is therefore an object of the invention to improve upon the knownprior art.

According to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided acommunication system comprising a receiver for receiving an audiosignal, said audio signal including an embedded telephone number, and anoutput device for outputting said embedded telephone number.

According to the second aspect of the invention, there is provided acommunication method comprising receiving an audio signal, said audiosignal including an embedded telephone number, and outputting saidembedded telephone number

According to the third aspect of the invention, there is provided acommunication system comprising a multiplexer for receiving an audiosignal and for embedding a telephone number in said audio signal, and atransmitter for transmitting said audio signal.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided aCommunication method comprising multiplexing a received audio signal,embedding a telephone number in said audio signal, and transmitting saidaudio signal.

Owing to the invention, it is possible to deliver a telephone number toa viewer or listener to a broadcast that does not require the recipientto note down the number, thereby eliminating the possibility for errorsof transcription to be made. It is also an advantage of the inventionthat the system is backwards compatible with legacy television and radioequipment.

In a first embodiment, the output device is a short-range wirelesstransceiver, and the receiver is a digital television receiver with theoutput device being a separate unit connected to the SCART socket of thereceiver. Preferably the system further comprises a mobile device forreceiving the embedded telephone number from the output device, themobile device including a short-range wireless transceiver.

In a second embodiment, the output device is an audio transmitter. Thisis particularly advantageous when the receiver is a radio.

Advantageously, in the method of using the system includes retrievingthe embedded telephone number from the audio signal. The method mayfurther comprise storing the embedded telephone number and outputtingthe embedded telephone number on receipt of a predefined signal. Thisallows prior broadcast of the relevant information that is then storedlocally and outputted when needed.

The audio signal can include multiple embedded telephone numbers and theoutputting comprises outputting those multiple embedded telephonenumbers. This provides for the situation when multiple numbers are used,for example during a voting style use of telephone numbers.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of exampleonly, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:—

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system,

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of thecommunication system,

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a communication method, showing theoperation of the communication systems of FIGS. 1 and 2,

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multiplexing and transmitting device,and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method of operation of the device of FIG.4.

The communication system of FIG. 1 comprises a receiver 10 for receivingan audio signal 12. The audio signal 12 is shown schematically in theFigure, typically the audio signal 12 would be part of a larger digitaltelevision signal broadcast, received by the receiver 10 via a fixedline connection from an aerial or satellite dish. The audio signal 12includes an embedded telephone number and the system further comprisesan output device 14 for outputting the embedded telephone number.

The receiver 10 is a digital television receiver 10, commonly referredto as a set top box and the output device 14 is a separate unitconnected to the SCART socket of the receiver 10. The output device 14is a separate unit that a user would purchase to be able to access theimproved system for receiving telephone numbers, and is in the form of ashort-range wireless transceiver 14.

In a typical operation of the system, a user watches a televisionprogramme on the display 16 with the associated audio being outputted byspeakers 18. If the programme contains an option to call a telephonenumber, for example, for the purpose of voting, then this number isembedded by the broadcaster in the audio signal. When the signal isreceived by the receiver 10, in addition to the audio signal beingpassed to the speakers 18, the receiver 10 also routes the audio signalthrough the output device 14. The device 14 can recognise the presenceof the embedded telephone number within the audio signal and retrievesthe embedded telephone number from the audio signal.

The device 14 then broadcasts the telephone number locally for receptionby any suitable receiver. Any well-known short-range wireless protocolcan be used, for example, Bluetooth or WiFi would be suitable protocols.If Bluetooth is used, then the telephone number is fed with suitablepacket headers to a Bluetooth beacon (which forms part of the outputdevice 14). The beacon searches the surroundings of the receiver 10looking for a suitably enabled mobile phone. If successful, a standardcommunications dialogue is opened, and the number transferred to thescreen of the mobile phone where it is now available at a singlekeystroke to complete the call via the mobile network.

In this embodiment, the system further comprises a mobile device 20, inthe form of a mobile phone, for receiving the embedded telephone numberfrom the output device 14. The mobile device includes a short-rangewireless transceiver 22 for receiving the locally transmitted telephonenumber, which at this point is available to the user. The user can storethe number in the mobile device 20, according to its own functionality,or can call the received telephone number straight away. Obviously ifthere is more than one mobile device 20 within range of the outputdevice 14, then each device 20 will receive the number as per theoperation of the protocol being used.

The audio signal 12 can include multiple embedded telephone numbers andthe outputting comprises outputting the multiple telephone numbers. Thissituation commonly occurs in television programmes that have telephonevoting as a feature of the broadcast. For example, the viewers can voteto choose which of a number of contestants they wish to be the winner.The different telephone numbers are embedded in the audio signal 12,possibly with further information embedded that relates to each number.

As before, the outputting device 14 receives the audio signal 12 andretrieves the telephone numbers and the additional information (if anyis transmitted) and then broadcasts this locally on the short-rangewireless system. Any mobile devices 20 within range will receive thenumbers via their respective wireless transceiver 22 and each mobiledevice 20 can display the received telephone numbers. If any additionalinformation is transmitted then this can also be displayed, as long asthe mobile device 20 has the necessary functionality. For example, theadditional information may be the names of the contestants that are tobe voted on; this facilitates the user correctly selecting the phonenumber that corresponds to the individual that they wish to vote for.Again, the user can save the numbers if desired.

Owing to limitations on the data rate achievable in an embedding system,if a large number of telephone numbers and/or a large amount ofadditional information is to be embedded in the audio signal, then thereexists the facility to store the embedded telephone numbers and outputthe embedded numbers on receipt of a predefined signal. This can also beused with just one embedded telephone number if that number is to beused several times during the programme being broadcast.

In this mode of operation, the output device 14, when retrieving theembedded telephone numbers and further information, can read a headerfrom the data that indicates that the information received is to bestored. The device 14 then stores this information locally, in forexample, a flash memory, and awaits the signal to broadcast via thewireless link. Upon receipt of the predefined signal, also embedded inthe audio signal, the outputting device 14 broadcasts the telephonenumbers locally via its wireless link along with any additionalinformation. In this way, the telephone numbers that are to be broadcastfrom the outputting device 14 are synchronised with the part of thetelevision programme that presents the telephone numbers to the user.The broadcaster can preprogram the timing of the predefined signal thattriggers the broadcast from the output device 14, or this can be sent inreal time, with, for example, the producer of a live televisionprogramme selecting the moment in the broadcast that the predefinedsignal is sent.

A second embodiment of the system is shown in FIG. 2. In thisembodiment, the receiver for receiving the audio signal 12 is a radio24, which receives the audio signal in a radio broadcast via its aerial28. As before, the audio signal includes an embedded telephone numberand the output device for outputting the embedded telephone number is anaudio transmitter 26. In the system, a mobile device 20 is provided forreceiving the embedded telephone number from the output device 26. Themobile device 20, in this example, is a mobile phone 20, which isprovided with a microphone 30. The microphone, in addition to itsstandard operation of receiving the voice signal from a user of thephone 20, is also receiving the audio output of the radio 24 from thespeaker 26.

During the operation of the second embodiment of the system, the radio24 is effectively passive to the presence of the embedded telephonenumber within the audio signal 12. The radio simply operates in itsnormal manner, receiving the broadcast to which it is tuned and feedingthe received audio signal 12 to the audio transmitter 26. Any devicesthat are within range of this broadcast, such as the mobile device 20,can receive this audio output. As long as the device 20 is provided withthe correct software for detecting the presence of the embeddedtelephone numbers, then the device 20 can itself retrieve the embeddednumber from the audio signal 12 and display that number to the user onthe display of the mobile device 20.

At the present time most mobile devices have their operating system andapplications embedded within the device, but the next generation ofmobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) with wirelesscapability have the functionality to receive software upgrades and newapplications to be run by the operating system. Therefore it is possiblefor a user to obtain the necessary software and store on it on theirmobile device 20, so that the device 20 can retrieve the embeddedtelephone number from the audio signal 12.

As discussed above, with reference to the embodiment of FIG. 1, multipletelephone numbers can be communicated by the system, with or withoutadditional information. In this embodiment, the mobile device 20, whichis receiving the audio signal 12 that has been rebroadcast by the radio24, can retrieve multiple embedded telephone numbers from the audiosignal with any additional information that is present, The mobiledevice 20 can then display the numbers and the additional information,as appropriate, to the user. The mobile device 20 can store thetelephone numbers and only display them on receipt of a predefinedsignal. When the broadcaster wishes to make the numbers available to theuser, the predefined signal is sent in the audio signal 12 and thisallows the synchronisation of multiple embedded telephone numbers withthe correct portion of the radio broadcast.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a communication method, showing theoperation of the communication systems of FIGS. 1 and 2. As describedabove, the communication method in its simplest form comprises receiving40 an audio signal 12, the audio signal 12 including an embeddedtelephone number, and outputting 46 the embedded telephone number.

Referring to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the method further comprisesretrieving 42 the embedded telephone number from the audio signal 12,and the outputting 46 comprises broadcasting the embedded telephonenumber from a short-range wireless transceiver 14. In the embodiment ofFIG. 2, the outputting 46 comprising broadcasting the embedded telephonenumber from an audio transmitter 26.

The communication method can further comprise storing 44 the embeddedtelephone number and outputting 46 the embedded telephone number onreceipt of a predefined signal. The audio signal 12 can include multipleembedded telephone numbers and the outputting 46 can comprise outputtingthe multiple embedded telephone numbers.

FIGS. 4 and 5 refer to the operation of the embedding of the telephonenumbers in the audio signal 12 by the broadcaster. A number of differentmethods of embedding information in signals are known, most of whichrely on methods of adapting the signal in a predefined manner to carrysupplemental information within the signal that is not readily apparentunless the recipient of the signal is aware of the use of the embedding.The recipient can then retrieve the information from the signal. Oftenthe method of embedding involves lowering the data rate of the broadcastsignal, with a slight but unnoticeable reduction in signal quality, andeffectively “squeezing” in further information. U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,330of US Philips Corporation describes a method of embedding supplementaldata in an encoded signal, and is incorporated herein by reference.

At the broadcast end of the embedding system, the communication systemcomprises a multiplexer 50 for receiving an audio signal 12 and forembedding a telephone number in the audio signal 12, and also comprisesa transmitter 52 for transmitting said audio signal. The multiplexer 50can further receive a video signal 54, and the transmitter 50 transmitsa digital television signal, with the telephone number embedded in theaudio potion of the broadcast signal. The multiplexer 50 can embed aplurality of telephone numbers within said audio signal 12, and can alsoembed further information concerning the embedded telephone numberswithin the audio signal 12. FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of the steps ofmultiplexing 60 the signal and then transmitting 62 the audio signal 12.

The system used by the broadcaster can be either digital or analogue, inboth cases it is a relatively simple matter to embed the telephonenumber or numbers within the audio portion of the television signal.Likewise, if the broadcast is a simple radio broadcast, then this can bea traditional analogue broadcast, or may be a digital system such asDAB. In the digital environment, some 48 bits can be encoded in 5seconds without any audible deterioration of the audio signal 12. Thusin the ten seconds that it takes to speak a typical telephone number andfor it to remain visible on a television screen, sufficient time isavailable to transfer the embedded telephone number to the receivingdevice. In the case of a radio broadcast, it is typical for theannouncer to repeat the telephone number, again allowing sufficient timefor the number to be transmitted as an embedded part of the audio signal12. If a large amount of information is required to be embedded in theaudio signal 12 over a relatively short period of time, then the datarate can be increased as the audio of the spoken voice can be degradedfor a short period of time, without unduly affecting the listenersenjoyment of the programme. It is also possible to increase the datarate of the embedding when the sound is not critical, as a way ofincreasing the amount of information transmitted without degradation ofthe audio signal.

1. A communication system comprising a receiver for receiving an audiosignal, said audio signal including an embedded telephone number, and anoutput device for outputting said embedded telephone number.
 2. A systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said output device is a short-rangewireless transceiver.
 3. A system according to claim 2, wherein saidreceiver is a digital television receiver and said output device is aseparate unit connected to the SCART socket of the receiver.
 4. A systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said output device is an audiotransmitter.
 5. A system according to any preceding claim, and furthercomprising a mobile device for receiving the embedded telephone numberfrom the output device.
 6. A system according to claim 5, wherein saidmobile device includes a short-range wireless transceiver.
 7. Acommunication method comprising receiving an audio signal, said audiosignal including an embedded telephone number, and outputting saidembedded telephone number.
 8. A method according to claim 7, and furthercomprising retrieving said embedded telephone number from said audiosignal.
 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein said outputtingcomprises broadcasting said embedded telephone number from a short-rangewireless transceiver.
 10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, andfurther comprising storing said embedded telephone number and outputtingsaid embedded telephone number on receipt of a predefined signal.
 11. Amethod according to claim 7, wherein said outputting comprisesbroadcasting said embedded telephone number from an audio transmitter.12. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein said audiosignal includes multiple embedded telephone numbers and said outputtingcomprises outputting said multiple embedded telephone numbers.
 13. Acommunication system comprising a multiplexer for receiving an audiosignal and for embedding a telephone number in said audio signal, and atransmitter for transmitting said audio signal.
 14. A system accordingto claim 13, said multiplexer for further receiving a video signal, andsaid transmitter transmitting a digital television signal, with saidtelephone number embedded in the audio potion of the broadcast signal.15. A system according to claim 13 or 14, wherein said multiplexerembeds a plurality of telephone numbers within said audio signal.
 16. Acommunication method comprising multiplexing a received audio signal,embedding a telephone number in said audio signal, and transmitting saidaudio signal.
 17. A method according to claim 16, and further comprisingmultiplexing a received video signal, and transmitting a digitaltelevision signal, with said telephone number embedded in the audiopotion of the broadcast signal.
 18. A method according to claim 16 or17, and further comprising embedding a plurality of telephone numberswithin said audio signal.